Bioenhancers

BIOENHANCERS 
  • Bioenhancers are agents that at low doses promote and augment the bioavailability or biological activity of drugs.
  • Herbal bioenhancers are agents of herbal origin or any phytomolecule, which is capable of enhancing bioavailability and/or bioefficacy of a specified drug or nutrient at the low dose but it do not show typical pharmacological activity.
  • The concept of bioenhancers (herbal origin) can be tracked back to Ayurveda system of medicine. 'Trikatu' meaning three acids is an Ayurvedic preparation containing black pepper, long pepper and ginger, which are prescribed routinely for a variety of diseases as part of a multidrug prescription.
  • Herbal bioenhancers have properties like non-toxic to humans and animals, effective at low concentrations, easy to formulate and enhance absorption and bioactivity of the drug or nutrient. Herbal bioenhancers are suggested to act through several mechanisms of action. Various mechanisms of action postulated for herbal bioenhancers include
    • increase in gastrointestinal blood supply and reduction in hydrochloric acid secretion,
    • inhibition of gastric emptying time, gastrointestinal transit and intestinal motility,
    • modifications in GIT epithelial cell membrane permeability,
    • cholagogous effect,
    • thermogenic and bioenergetics properties,
    • inhibition of drug metabolizing enzymes and suppression of first pass metabolism and stimulation of gamma glutamyl transpeptidase (GGT) activity which enhances uptake of amino acids.

Important Indian Herbal Bioenhancers

  • Long pepper (Piper longum),
  • Black pepper (Piper nigrum),
  • Ginger (Zingiber officinale),
  • Liquorice (Glycyrrhiza glabra),
  • Black cumin (Cuminum cyminum),
  • Cumin/Caraway (Carum carvi),
  • Garlic (Allium sativum) and
  • Indian Aloe (Aloe vera)

The development of plant-based bioenhancers is to be targeted for drugs that are poorly bioavailable, given for longer period of time, highly toxic and expensive. Further, research should be carried out to evaluate clinical application of herbal bioenhancers in modern human and veterinary therapeutics.

Last modified: Thursday, 26 April 2012, 5:56 AM